A white Christmas Deepening snow has isolated the village of Byford from the outside world, but as the locals settle down for the festive period, the peace is suddenly destroyed with news of a violent crime at the vicarage. A domestic murder The victim is the vicar`s son-in-law, but few are saddened by his death. & although Chief Inspector Lloyd is expecting an open-&-shut case, he is soon confronted with more than he bargained for. A web of lies Struggling to keep control of his personal relationship with Sergeant Judy Hill, Lloyd must work his way through a tangle of suspects, each doing their part to disrupt the investigation in this perplexing mystery. Murder at the Old Vicarage is Jill Mc Gown`s classic homage to Agatha Christie, with a decidedly uncosy twist. ...

The sixth book in the classic Martin Beck detective series from the 1960s
- the novels that shaped the future of Scandinavian crime
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One of the Guardian`s `50 Biggest Books of Autumn 2018` Early in the morning of 6 May 1840, on an ultra-respectable Mayfair street, a footman answered the door to a panic-stricken maid from a nearby house. Her elderly master, Lord William Russell, was lying in bed with his throat cut so deeply that the head was almost severed. The whole of London, from monarch to street urchins, was gripped by the gory details of the Russell murder, but behind it was another story, a work of fiction, & a fierce debate about censorship & morality. Several of the key literary figures of the day, including Dickens & Thackeray, were drawn into the controversy, & when Lord William`s murderer claimed to having been inspired by the season`s most sensational novel, it seemed that a great deal more was on trial than anyone could have guessed. Bringing together much previously unpublished material from a wide range of sources, Claire Harman reveals the story of the notorious Russell murder case & its fascinating connections with the writers & literary culture of the day. Gripping & eye-opening, Murder by the Book is the untold true story of a surprisingly literary crime.` This beautifully produced & impressively researched historical account of a celebrated Victorian murder with a literary twist reads like a thriller. I devoured it in one sitting, & was at once enthralled & chilled. Highly recommended!` Alison Weir ...

The cathedral town of Litchester is more used to carols by candlelight during the festive period than flames & intrigue, but the proposed sale of its 1225 copy of the Magna Carta in order to raise funds turns out to have far-reaching consequences. Merchant banker Mark Treasure has been invited down to arbitrate the vicious disagreement between members of the cathedral chapter regarding the sale & finds himself dealing with more than he bargained for when the Dean`s verger is discovered murdered, his body left to burn, along with the ecclesiastical library. As his investigation progresses & the evidence points to mayhem & skulduggery, he discovers that Litchester is a town full of sins & secrets rather than peace on earth. ...

An archaeologist`s wife is murdered on the shores of the River Tigris in Iraq... It was clear to Amy Leatheran that something sinister was going on at the Hassanieh dig in Iraq; something associated with the presence of ` Lovely Louise`, wife of celebrated archaeologist Dr Leidner. In a few days` time Hercule Poirot was due to drop in at the excavation site. But with Louise suffering from terrifying hallucinations, & tension within the group becoming almost unbearable, Poirot might just be too late... ...

Sat on the top of a bus days before Christmas, Maya sees a couple arguing violently in the middle of a crowded Regent Street. They see her watching, she looks away, & the woman disappears. Maya goes to the police, who shrug & send her away. Then a body turns up... Now convinced she is a vital witness to a crime, the police send Maya into hiding in rural Wales. She resolves to get to the bottom of the mystery. Then the snow comes & no one can get out. But what if someone can still get in? From the author of Dear Scarlet & Saving Sophia. ...

In Montego Bay, Jamaica, privileged Chinese-Jamaican brothers Lester & Carter Chin Ellis have enjoyed a sheltered life as the heirs to the iced desserts empire Chinchillerz. One fateful night, following a fiery encounter with local law enforcement the brothers are taken to Pelican Walk Police Station, where Lester is detained for drunk driving, while Carter is released without charge. Within minutes of leaving the station Carter is shot dead in a drive-by, while his brother Lester is brutally assaulted in his cell. Discredited Detective Raythan Preddy is put in charge of the case & is forced to accept the assistance of Detective Sean Harris, a Scottish lawman seconded to Jamaica. With his superiors watching his every move & the Chin Ellis family interfering with the investigation, Preddy is determined to catch the killer & save his career. ...

` Scores of men & women died daily in London, but on this day of days one of them had died in the very midst of a crowd & the cause of his death was a dagger piercing his heart. Death had become something very real.` When Bobbie Cheldon falls in love with a pretty young dancer at the Frozen Fang night club in Soho, he has every hope of an idyllic marriage. But Nancy has more worldly ideas about her future: she is attracted not so much to Bobbie as to the fortune he expects to inherit. Bobbie`s miserly uncle Massy stands between him & happiness: he will not relinquish the ten thousand a year on which Nancy`s hopes rest. When Bobbie falls under the sway of the roguish Nosey Ruslin, the stage is set for murder in the heart of Piccadilly
- & for Nancy`s dreams to be realised. When Chief Inspector Wake of Scotland Yard enters the scene, he uncovers a tangled web of love affairs, a cynical Soho underworld, & a motive for murder.
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When Craig Murray arrived in Uzbekistan to take up his post in 2002, he was a young ambassador with a brilliant career & a taste for whisky & women. But after hearing accounts of dissident prisoners being boiled to death & innocent people being raped & murdered by agents of the state, he started to question both his role & that of his country in so-called `democratising` states. Following his discovery that the British government was accepting information obtained under torture, Murray could no longer maintain a diplomatic silence. When he voiced his outrage, Washington & 10 Downing Street decided he had to go. But Uzbekistan had changed the high-living diplomat & there was no way he was going to go quietly. In this candid & at times shocking memoir, Murray lays bare the dark & dirty underside of the War on Terror. ...

Book 50 in the Detective Club Crime Classics series is Carolyn Wells` Murder in the Bookshop, a classic locked room murder mystery which will have a special resonance for lovers & collectors of Golden Age detective fiction.

Includes:: a bonus murder story: ` The Shakespeare Title-Page Mystery`. When Philip Balfour is found murdered in a New York bookstore, the number one suspect is his librarian, a man who has coveted Balfour`s widow. But when the police discover that a book worth $100, 000 is missing, detective Fleming Stone realises that some people covet rare volumes even more highly than other men`s wives, & embarks on one of his most dangerous investigations. A successful poet & children`s author, Carolyn Wells discovered mystery fiction in her forties & went on to become one of America`s most popular Golden Age writers. Penning 82 detective novels between 1909 & her death in 1942, she was mourned in 1968 by the great John Dickson Carr as one of mystery fiction`s `lost ladies now well lost`, & remains undeservedly neglected 50 years later. Murder in the Bookshop is a story laced with criminality, locked rooms & bookish intricacies that any bibliophile will find irresistible. This Detective Club hardback is introduced by award-winning writer & authority on Golden Age detective fiction, Curtis Evans, &

Includes:: ` The Shakespeare Title-Page Mystery`, a murderous tale of literary shenanigans that was one of the last pieces of detective fiction which Carolyn Wells ever published.



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